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Download a zip file that includes all the web pages and downloadable files from the student materialsFor the Instructor
These student materials complement the Future of Food Instructor Materials. If you would like your students to have access to the student materials, we suggest you either point them at the Student Version which omits the framing pages with information designed for faculty (and this box). Or you can download these pages in several formats that you can include in your course website or local Learning Managment System. Learn more about using, modifying, and sharing InTeGrate teaching materials.Virtual Water
How much water do you eat?
Water is essential to growing food and every bite of food we consume required water to grow, process and transport. The water necessary to grow, process and transport food is often referred to as virtual water or embedded water. Virtual water is the entire amount of water required to produce all of the products we use, including our mobile phones and cotton t-shirts. But a global assessment of virtual water reveals that the majority of water that we consume is in the food we eat. If we total up all of the virtual water embedded in everything we use and eat, we can estimate our total water footprint. Water footprints can be used to provide insights into how much water is used every day in all of our activities including producing our food. For example, Figure 4.1.12 shows the amount of water used per person around the globe associated with wheat consumption. When you eat food imported from another region, you are eating the water of that region. The apple from New Zealand, grapes from Chile and lettuce from California all required water to grow and by consuming those products you're "eating" that virtual water. The concepts of virtual water and water footprints can be powerful tools for businesses and governments to understand their water-related risks and for planning purposes (water footprint network).
Figure 4.1.12. Water footprint per capita related to consumption of wheat products in the period 1996–2005. Figure from Hoekstra, A.Y. and M.M. Mekonnen, 2012, The Water Footprint of Humanity, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 109, no. 9.
Check Your Understanding
Scroll through this infographic (link down) explaining virtual water and answer the questions below.
How many liters of water do you "eat" every day?
If there are 3.8 liters per gallon, how many 20-gallon aquariums is that?
What percentage of the total water consumed on average per person per day is associated with the production of the food we consume?
How many liters of water are needed to produce one kilogram of beef?
How big would the wall of one-liter water bottles equivalent to 15,400 liters? Convert the size of the wall to feet. How big is it?
Based on the graph of the amount of water needed to produce different food products, what sort of diet would you conclude uses the least/most amount of water?
